Exclamation points in a band’s name doesn’t necessarily make the music they create any more interesting, if anything it’s a pain for those of us onliners not familiar with the shift key. But, allowances will definitely be awarded for acts from my home town especially when they ditch the fiddle for some decent electronics and traditional indie sensibilities. C!ties debut self-titled EP is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but is populated with enough ideas to point to an act with oodles of potential. The ‘C!ties’ EP casts its net far and wide, is loud in places, tender in others and downright unclassifiable elsewhere. ‘!’ is by far my favourite moment, not going anywhere in particular it would have made a most wonderful audio interlude on No Disco if that ship were still sailing. Sorta like Super Extra Bonus Party where they to ditch the superfluous audio widgets. Elsewhere tracks like ‘Satellites’ and ‘4+1=5’ start out wonderfully before somewhat losing their way in a haze of faux drama. This EP is available for free download from the C!ties myspace and with a bit of luck it should soon be knocking the concrete smile off Sharon Shannon’s face. KD

C!ties - !

More Info: Official & Myspace
Download Songs: C!ties
Year: 2009